Author Note: As if I couldn't start enough stories, but oh well I felt like I was updating my other works too fast that I might as well write something very weird. I really love this series and am so glad I decided to start picking up the books again. If you do surprise me by reading this I hope you enjoy it. I'm mainly writing this for myself, but would be delighted for anyone to enjoy it.
My teacher and his student
Chapter One – Sacrifice
He had met Kyoko five years ago, okay… that wasn't completely true. Kuon Hizuri had met Kyoko fifteen years ago when he was a ten year old kid, but he had at least met the revived Kyoko five years ago. Three years ago they had started dating. Two years ago he had proposed and only fifteen months ago had they been married. They had been married for fifteen months and Kyoko Hizuri was on her fourth month of pregnancy. Well, Kyoko Hizuri was on her fourth month of pregnancy and on life support since she had been in a car accident whilst her husband was driving.
As he sat by her bedside, only having a few bandages on him and not as many wounds as he felt that he should have, he knew that she was running out of time. Soon he would lose both his wife and his unborn daughter. He had no choice. Unless she made a miraculous recovery, he would lose her. She had always been bold and fought for it, but he didn't know if she had the strength to do so this time.
As he watched his wife, holding her hand and running his thumb along the back of it, there was a slight tap on the door. He didn't move to start with. He didn't want to hear the doctor persuade him that his wife wasn't going to make it. He didn't want the nurse to pity him. He just wanted to believe half-heartedly that his wife was going to pull out of this.
He heard the knock again and took a deep breath in, maybe if he didn't answer they would get the hint and leave him be. He didn't want to listen to them, he just needed to hold onto belief. It was with the third knock that he did turn around, his face changing into that of shock.
This wasn't a doctor. The person behind him wasn't a doctor, it wasn't even a nurse. It was a woman with long red hair and a green dress, a woman that was nearly as beautiful as his mother. However, the beauty wasn't what caught the actor off guard. On her back, fluttering as if a part of her body, was a pair of white, somewhat translucent wings and in her hand a magic wand.
Okay. So, he was so concerned about the life of his wife and child that he had started hallucinating. Wasn't this something that Kyoko would do rather than himself. He tried to pinch himself and was surprised when it hurt. There was only one explanation for the woman he was seeing behind him, she was a fairy.
"Hello Corn," she said as she approached him. He stared at her speechless, his eyes still wide in shock. "I am Aurora, I am the princess of the fairy kingdom and I am here to offer you a deal that you might be interested in."
"O..kay," Kuon said as he stood up and protectively stood in front of Kyoko. Even if this was the princess of fairy land, he was still going to be protective of his wife even after she had passed away. He ran a hand through his blonde and disheveled hair, he was definitely breaking under the pressure and grief of the moment. "What kind of deal?"
"I have come to save your wife a true believer of our kingdom. Without people like her, our kingdom might cease to exist and I know once in your life she had convinced you to believe," she said as Kuon watched her, however with the words that she wanted to save Kyoko, he was more interested in what she proposed.
"Alright, what kind of trade are you talking about?" Kuon asked as his eyes kept going back to his wife. "How do you propose to save her?"
"Her life force has nearly run out, she needs a strong life inside of her. Your life, Corn, is a strong one. If you were to give your life energy for her -" Aurora tried to convince him seeing the man take unsettled breaths, "She only has a few moments left. Will you give her that energy?"
Kuon looked at his wife again, was this fairy just asking him to sacrifice his life for his wife and child? He would be an idiot to refuse such an offer. "Deal," he nodded. "I'll give my life for her. Just please make sure she's okay after my death."
"Death?" Aurora asked, "No, your death is not needed, just your life force. Now if I take her hand and I take yours," she said as Kuon nervously offered her his hand before feeling a sharp stabbing pain throughout his body.
Before he collapsed however he heard Kyoko's breaths get stronger and the heart monitor's beeping informing him that she would be alright. Wasn't that what mattered most? At least those were the thoughts he had before he passed out.
….
….
When he awoke, Kuon felt his body was extremely stiff. He reached out a hand wanting to push himself up. He still didn't understand if what happened was real, he still didn't know if he had just collapsed from all the stress and lack of sleep. At least, he was still trying to figure out what was real before he saw his hand. He could see the aged hand with all of its wrinkles and how it hurt when he tried to move it. He heard his winded lungs and felt his body had shriveled up.
He didn't know what had happened, but he did hear a comforting voice beside him.
"Sir," Kyoko said as she tried to give him a kind smile though her eyes showed that she didn't recognize him. "Hello, sir, are you alright?" she asked as she tried to help him up. "Are you confused? Should I get a nurse?" she asked before helping him to a chair in the room. "My name is Kyoko Hizuri, do you remember your name?" she asked.
Kuon stared at her confused. She had just nearly died a moment ago and now she was walking around and acting as if nothing had happened. Before he had a chance to answer, Kuon saw his own reflection and his gut tightened before sinking. He stood up, his back hurting terribly before making his way over to the window.
Let alone the feeling that his body had shriveled up, his body looked like that of a seventy year old. He was wearing the same basic clothes he had been wearing before, but they were too loose on him now. His eyesight seemed weaker and his hair had changed from blonde to a thinning white. How old was he?
He looked back at Kyoko in horror. He didn't know whether to explain to his wife why he now looked the age of her grandfather or not.
"It's Takamoto," he said quickly not sure where he had pulled that name out of, "Katsuki Takamoto."
He didn't know why he was lying to her, maybe it was to spare her, but inside he felt that he was trying to defend himself. He saw her nod and felt his heart break as he realized that he would never allow himself to be with her again, at least not as her husband. Looking down he noticed that he still had his wedding ring on and swiftly removed it and placed it securely in his pocket.
He couldn't let his secret slip, not when it would only cause her pain.
"Takamoto, hmm," Kyoko said as she came over to him. "You have long legs, like my husband," she laughed, "and your clothes. Well, I must say you have good taste," she said as she tried to look at his face. As she stared at him, Kuon felt that her brain was finding a connection between all of this so he quickly looked away so she wouldn't be able to figure it out.
"My husband is such a sweet man, he's very kind and brave. He should be here, right?" she asked as Kuon looked at her. Maybe he should just rip off the metaphorical Bandaid before it hurt her too much.
"I know of your husband," he croaked trying to disguise his voice. He couldn't let that be a clue for her, she should never find out who he was. "I am very sorry for your loss."
Kyoko blinked hard as she looked at the elderly Kuon, "My loss?" she asked confused before her eyes widened, "Don't tell me that he didn't make it," she said before starting to shake. She wrapped her arms around herself before breaking down into tears, "Please?" she asked him as he felt his heart break for her. This was the best way to do it, right? He was only hurting her to protect her. "Tell me he's wounded, tell me he's in surgery, just please, please tell me that Kuon isn't dead, please?" she begged as her body continued to shake.
Kuon closed his eyes, he had to remember that this was all for her sake, that he was telling these lies to help her. He had already put himself in this position to give her his life, he couldn't do something foolish like telling her the truth about who he was. He feared the rejection and disgust too much. He shouldn't force her into anything.
"Again," he repeated wanting to hold her and take all the pain away, "I am deeply sorry for your loss."
"Kuon…" Kyoko whispered as she put a hand on her stomach. "I'm so sorry," she whispered pained. "I'm so sorry I lost you," she said as the tears ran down her cheeks. "I…sir, I'm not sure what you're doing in here but you're not the man I need right now and I'd like you to leave. I apologize for my lack of respect, but the only man I need is my husband."
"I apologize for disturbing you," Kuon said as he felt as if a dagger was piercing his heart deeper and deeper. "Please take care of yourself, your husband would want it." He took a last look at her, he saw her grab hold of the hospital blanket and press her head into the pillow with her grief. She was so still and so depressed, he had hated doing that to her but he had needed to.
He had now made two sacrifices for her, but it would be worse if they were together. It would be much worse for her to push herself to be with him. Their lives had to take different paths now and soon she would recover and maybe date other people and he would watch her life unfold from the sidelines. She would get over his 'passing' wouldn't she?
"Sir," a nurse said as he went down the hallway at a slower pace than he had the last time he had stepped out of the room. "Are you lost?"
Kuon felt his heart beat in his chest and swallowed deeply. "I suppose I am," he said trying to act the age that the fairy had made him. He felt something in his pocket and took out the same wallet that he had had before. However as he opened it up he found that the items in it, the credit cards, the strange medical card, the ID card, they weren't his.
On all of them was the name 'Katsuki Takamoto'. Wow, this fairy had been very thorough with all of this. On the ID card was an address for a quiet residential area where a lot of older people lived. He had a house number on the card, maybe if the fairy had gone to such an extent to do this, she had also given him a place to stay.
Amongst all of this mess, he had a tiny sliver of a silver lining.
"I'd like to find a taxi," he told her, "This is my address," he handed her the card which had a picture of the face he had now. He looked at the nurse as she bowed and went to the reception desk. He took a long look at the room where his once wife had been. "Goodbye, princess. I'll always love you," he said vowing himself not to see her again.
In that moment he didn't know how wrong he would be.
